Integration of main industry player into the Japanese market. Turnaround of eroding market share and creation of the necessary basis for further expansion into Asia and other overseas markets.
Following a merger between two of the industry's biggest players, poor financial performance was witnessed due to a decreasing market share and eroding margin within a mature and deflationary market. The client lacked a clear, integrated commercial strategy and a common operating framework. Low productivity resulted from top-heavy, redundant organizational structures and multiple headquarter organizations.
A bottom-up market analysis, including customer interviews and sales force on-the-road studies, provided clear insights about market needs and specificities. Commercial strategies were reviewed in light of real market needs. Job interviews conducted across the country identified a variety of operating frameworks and inconsistent behaviors in various regions.
Company employees were surveyed in order to identify differences in mindsets and perceived values. Insights were verified and deepened via multiple top management interviews, spanning several levels and positions within the organization, and by benchmarking numerous international players.
A new integrated commercial strategy was created based on a distinct route-to-market segmentation, focusing on service-level differentiation. A novel operating framework, founded on a clear differentiation between the strategy department and execution, was put in place and reinforced by a relevant set of key performance indicators in order to provide feedback and control the system. A personalized, integrated organization was developed, specifying responsibility from top management levels to operating branch offices, which leveraged on the creation of a new trade marketing department for making principal strategic decisions. A three-year turnaround plan for reaching the company objective, which included employee relocation plans, was presented and agreed upon.
